Encore! Encore!

25TH ANNIVERSARY FEST WELCOMES BACK LEGENDARY ARTISTS

This fall, the San Francisco Jazz Festival celebrates its 25th Anniversary by welcoming back a handful of celebrated artists from a quarter century of legendary jazz performances. The opening fortnight features four acts—Ornette Coleman, Kronos Quartet, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Toots Thielemans—that are emblematic of the trailblazing spirit that has been a hallmark of the Festival since its earliest days.

At a spry 77, Ornette Coleman plays with a mix of youthful vigor and profound experience. Over the past half century, Coleman has redefined jazz, introducing new harmonic and improvisational concepts while remaining firmly tied to his R&B roots. He has been celebrated accordingly, most recently with a Pulitzer Prize (for his 2006 recording Sound Grammar) and a trifecta in the 2007 DownBeat Critics Poll for “#1 Alto Saxophonist,” “Best Album,” and “#1 Jazz Artist.” This Master Maverick’s every concert is a pure, inspired celebration of melody. His October 28 Masonic Center appearance, featuring his son, Denardo on drums, and three of jazz’s finest bassists (Charnett Moffet, Tony Falanga, and Al McDowell) will surely follow suit.

Innovation is a guiding principle of the Bay Area’s own Kronos Quartet. Over two nights at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, the Quartet debuts an eclectic program highlighted by the world premiere of percussionist, composer, and fellow Nonesuch artist Glenn Kotche’s new composition “Anomaly”.  Kotche, also the drummer for superstar rock band Wilco, will join Kronos onstage, as will special guests Walter Kitundu and Dohee Lee. The program is rounded out with works by Thelonious Monk, Raymond Scott, John Zorn, Ram Narayan, Television guitarist and composer Tom Verlaine, and Amon Tobin.

GRAMMY-winning singer Dee Dee Bridgewater’s groundbreaking career has included acting on Broadway, reinterpreting Ella Fitzgerald, performing humanitarian work for the United Nations, and hosting NPR’s Jazz Set. A masterful, wide-ranging stylist, Bridgewater’s latest endeavor emerged from a 2004 trip to Mali she called “the culmination of my decision to find my African roots.” Combining her jazz trio with a group of master Malian musicians, this project, “Red Earth: A Malian Journey,” is a personal journey of global proportions.

Toots Thielemans has lent his joyous, heartfelt harmonica sound to countless recordings and film scores—everything from his standard “Bluesette” to the Sesame Street theme. Though his instrument is a rarity in jazz circles, it is his inimitable expressive ability that has garned Thielemans the “#1 Miscellaneous Instrument” ranking year after year in the DownBeat Critics Poll. He appears at the festival in a Brazilian mood with two close musical comrades—and a band that debuted at the 2000 S.F. Jazz Festival— pianist Kenny Werner and guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, who calls Thielemans “full of passion and love and the most expressive, soulful, flowing improviser I’ve been fortunate enough to know and share the stage with.”

Other exhilarating Festival encores this fall include Ahmad Jamal (10/21), Beacon Award-Winner Pete Escovedo (10/27), the Conga Kings (11/9), Herbie Hancock and Gonzalo Rubalcaba (11/10), and Caetano Veloso (11/17). Check out the full festival schedule today!